The Red Ink
by lonelyfangoddess
Summary: Bughead one-shot. Betty likes Jughead. Jughead won't admit that he may, on occasion, admire Betty for all the little things she doesn't notice. When Betty has an emergency, will Jughead finally take the plunge? Read on to find out.


_Just keep walking, just keep walking, she doesn't know you watched her walking out of her house_...Jughead repeated those phrases over and over in his mind. Betty Cooper, the girl next door, the third piece to the Jughead, Archie, and Betty trio. Betty Cooper, the one girl who can make Jughead Jones the Third melt on the inside with just a smile. Betty Cooper, who was currently ambling up to Jughead at an increasingly fast rate, trying desperately to catch up to him on their walk to school.

"Hey, Juggie, wait up!" Betty called from behind him, huffing and puffing with the weight of her backpack pulling her down. Instead of slowing down, Jughead steadily moved at a faster pace. Betty's eyebrows crunched in confusion as she fell behind, both hurt and annoyed at the same time.

"FORSYTHE PENDLETON JONES III," Betty yelled, successfully shocking Jughead into stopping by four-naming him. His ears immediately turned red and so did his cheeks, an instinct that happened every time someone called him by his real name. His fingers turned prickly, sensing trouble up ahead, and he desperately tried to make up a lie to excuse himself. Betty clambered up the sidewalk and fell into step with him.

"What the hell was that, Juggie?" Betty asked, her mouth turning down at the edges. Jughead hated how all he wanted to do was make her smile again and he hated how he was the one causing her beautiful smile to go away. "Hey, are you okay?" Betty asked when Jughead stayed silent. The truth was, he didn't want to open his mouth in front of her for fear the butterflies in his stomach would fly away. He scowled.

"Juggie." Betty pushed, pulling Jughead to a stop and turning him to face her. The look of complete earnestness and concern in her eyes made Jughead soften, just a touch.

"I'm fine, okay?" Jughead spat out, still a little more toxic than he meant to.

"Okay," Betty said softly. He mentally kicked himself when Betty turned and continued walking, pulling her arms to twine with each other: a telltale sign he'd picked up for when she was upset. Betty couldn't understand why Juggie was being so testy lately. It hurt, because all she wanted was for him to wrap his arms around her as she walked away, pull her back to him and kiss her. Betty knew it was a childish fantasy, but one she just couldn't shake no matter how hard she tried. And he clearly did not reciprocate. Again.

Jughead quickly caught up with her, eyes downcast and silently guilty. "Betty." He said clearly, gently grabbing her arm and forcing her to stop. "Betts, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it that way, I was just-" Jughead was interrupted by her.

"Juggie, it's okay. No need to apologize. I get it." Betty offered Jughead a sly smile, trying to get that horrible sad look off his face. "So, what have you been up to this weekend?" She asked casually, as if nothing had happened. Betty was good at that, priding herself on putting others before her own needs and feelings. Jughead looked down at her intensely for a few seconds, then smirked.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Back to hanging out with Archie, mooching off of Pop, battling dragons for my booth..." Jughead drew out the name 'Archie' purposely, watching for any flicker of the smitten girl he usually knew pretty well, but not getting anything this time. As a fact, he hadn't been getting any reaction for a while now, testing her every now and then. Betty suddenly smiled.

"Battling dragons, huh? Are you sure it's not just your breath after eating one of Pop's burgers?" Betty teased, and laughed as Jughead's cheeks turned a slight pink.

"Touché," said Jughead, putting his hand on Betty's shoulder in what he tried to convince himself was a friendly way, not a I-just-need-any-excuse-to-touch-you-because-I-think-you're-amazing kind of way. Betty's ears turned pink at the small form of contact and she was suddenly grateful she hadn't put her hair back this morning. Suddenly the butterflies roared to life in her stomach and she felt light as air, but was viciously brought back down to earth when Jughead tore his hand away from her like it was on fire.

 _What were you thinking? Oh my god, you goddamned idiot. Physical contact means swirly stomach. Swirly stomach means affection. Affection means crush, and you most certainly do not have a crush on Betty Cooper. No siree._

Betty and Jughead walked the rest of the way in silence, neither wanting to scare the other off. When they reached the school, Betty said goodbye while Jughead just sauntered off, lost in his own thoughts.

Through all of their first period, all Betty could think about was how his warm hand felt on her shoulder. She was smitten and not afraid of admitting it to herself. She had learned from her mistakes, though. When she first realized what she was feeling for the dark haired boy who walked her to school almost every day, she was cautious. After seeing how differently he treated her from others, however, she lowered her walls a little bit. Then, all at once, they came tumbling down and she found herself looking forward to school in the morning because it meant she got to see him again.

Betty never suspected Jughead felt the same way. Jughead, however, was not fully embracing the idea of crushing on the one and only Betty Cooper. In his admittedly very short list of experience, crushes never ended well. They always ended in pain and heartbreak. Jughead, throughout the first few classes that day, was getting very frustrated at himself over the prospect of liking Betty more than a normal best friend should. Therefore, when Betty called to him in the halls after the bell signalling lunch, he lashed out. It wasn't meant for her. He never meant to be cruel.

"Jughead! Hey, Jughead!" Jughead kept walking when he heard Betty calling him.

"JUG-" Betty started, but was interrupted by Jughead abruptly spinning around, a scowl on his face and a glare in his eye.

"WHAT, Betty?" Jughead replied rather sharply. He wished he didn't notice the way her smile vanished slowly or how her eyes lost the humour they had had in them just seconds before. He wished he didn't notice how her voice went from being jolly to timid.

"I-I uh, just wanted to know if you...maybe...wanted to eat with us at the picnic table?" Betty gained confidence with every word spoken, and had almost returned to being uplifted. "There's always room for you with us," Betty finished with a dazzling smile. Jughead felt his anger harden despite the warm, melty feeling inside.

"No, I won't. I have somewhere I need to go." Jughead replied with clear venom in his voice. Betty's heart ached and wanted desperately to shrink and hide at the tone in his voice, the same tone used by her mother when she was angry at her. However, she reminded herself that Jughead clearly wasn't okay at the moment and settled to give him a comforting hug before nodding and turning back around.

Jughead was amazed at how someone who he could be so cruel to, intentionally or not, could be so kind and understanding. He most definitely didn't deserve her. Jughead loved observing her kindness and laughter towards others, but didn't ever feel he deserved it turned on himself; especially lately, with how mean he'd been to her. As observant as Jughead Jones was, he didn't get to see the way Betty's face fell and shoulders hunched once she had turned the hallway corner. Her eyes rimmed red before giving herself a shake and forcing a smile. It's just a mood, nothing to do with you, she thought to herself.

Betty fluttered through lunch with Veronica, Kevin and Archie, although instead of going up like it usually does with those three, Betty kept getting more and more aggravated. Jughead had just brushed her off like it was nothing, multiple times, and it hurt. Veronica knew with just a glance that her best friend needed a way to sort out her feelings. Without a word, Veronica pulled Betty in for an extra tight hug. Betty's eyes rimmed with tears yet again, but didn't let them fall. Instead, she buried her head in her best friend's hair and grit her teeth.

Betty should have known, though, that this grumpy day was only going to get more cranky. During their last class of the day which Betty had with Jughead, she grew more frustrated with his behaviour. Normally, he would sit beside her and crack jokes under his breath, just loud enough to make Betty laugh and his heart swell with the sound. Today though, he sat one infuriating row behind her on purpose, leaving her to sit with Cheryl. Betty was not having a good day.

"Oh, by the way, don't think I'm fooled by your family's little 'poor us' story of the daughter that got knocked up and decided to kill the father for custody-" Cheryl started with a nasty tone of voice, grating on every last one of Betty's nerves. Betty had already been angry for the last two classes of the day, her emotions turned into a whirlpool of ferocious red and a wounded blue in her gut. Cheryl bringing Betty's sister into their conversation was the last straw. Betty did something she very rarely ever did. She snapped.

"Cheryl, SHUT UP. STOP TALKING LIKE THAT ABOUT MY SISTER. Polly did NOT kill Jason. Yes, Polly's pregnant but for the love of God, GET A NEW SOB STORY, and stop bringing my family into it!" Betty accidentally let out, immediately regretting it. Oh no, oh no oh no, Betty thought on repeat. Behind her, Jughead raised his eyebrows in shock. Jughead raised his arms and gave Betty a sarcastic slow clap for saying what the rest of this small town had been thinking for the past few months. Betty turned to face him, cheeks beet-red and eyes wide with humiliation, silently begging him to stop. Or help. Either one she would have been okay with. Betty turned back to Cheryl with a defeated but desperate look.

"Cheryl, I am so sorry. I didn't mean-" Betty started her apology but guiltily cut herself off when she noticed Cheryl's glare was only getting bigger.

"Save it, Betty." Cheryl spit out her name like is was venomous. "We all know all your family does is spill lies. Why would you be any different?" Cheryl flipped her hair and turned away from Betty, whipping her across the arm with her long red hair.

Although Betty didn't like Cheryl and wanted deeply to tell her just where she could shove her opinions, she felt the blow completely. Why would she be any different? She already knew her parents were crazy, and maybe her sister, too, so why would Betty be different? Why couldn't she shut her mouth and ignore mean people like she normally could? She would never be good enough for anyone, Betty thought, as she slumped back into her chair with tears in her eyes. Not good enough, was all she ever heard from her mother. Maybe she was right. Maybe all Betty was, was a-

"Hey, Betts, are you okay?" Suddenly Betty felt a familiar hand on her shoulder, and looked up into the concerned face of Jughead. His clear blue eyes were filled with worry, and they instantly make Betty feel better before she reminded herself she was mad. With a deep sigh, she found she just couldn't bring her heart into it anymore. Betty was more weighed down by her hurting heart than anything.

"I-I can't...I want...I need some time alone Juggie. I'm sorry," Betty said as gently as she could, her heart hurting the whole time. Jughead stood still in shock when Betty brushed past him into the hall the second the bell rang. He tried calling after her, but she either didn't hear him or she ignored him. Jughead looked down in shame. With the way he'd been treating her, it was no doubt she needed space. Jughead collected his books and laptop and headed straight to Pop's for a guilt milkshake.

A few hours after Betty had gotten home, she started to regret leaving Jughead standing there in the classroom. For one, she had missed out on a walk home-which was probably for the best anyways since she wasn't much in the mood for talking. Even though the sun shine always made her feel happy, Betty had felt like she was walking under a storm cloud. Then came the guilt that always showed up after an outburst. Betty felt like the worst person alive. Not only had she snapped on Cheryl, she had implied that she needed to get over her brother's death! Cheryl may have treated Betty like she was the scum of the earth, but she still didn't deserve that thrown at her. Betty sat stock still on the edge of her bed, white hot shame coursing through her at top speeds. Jughead also didn't deserve to be ditched like that, no matter how mean he had been to her. Betty decided to call him and apologize.

"Hey, Jughead," Betty said as soon as she heard the sounds of Pop's fill the phone.

"Hey, Betty. You okay?" Even through the phone, Betty could hear the level of genuine concern in his voice. She imagined his face, his eyes studying her, searching for clues that she didn't know she was giving away.

"I'm...not really. Juggie, I'm sorry for how I treated you earlier, you didn't deserve that from me and I hope you can forgive me." Betty said, regret and sorrow lacing every last bit of her voice. Jughead made a splattering sound, like he had choked on something.

"Wait, wait, YOU'RE apologizing to ME?" Jughead said, clearly dumbfounded.

"Yes? I-I'm sorry, Juggie." Betty said, but it ended up sounding more like a question.

"Betty, it should be me apologizing to you. I'm sorry for treating you so badly lately. Can you ever forgive me for that?" said Jughead, creasing his eyebrows and mouthing, please, please, please.

"Of course I can forgive you. What kind of best friend wouldn't understand that sometimes you just have a bad day?" Betty thought back to earlier. "Or week," she finished.

"Oh Betty. Thank you so much. Why don't you come down to Pop's? I think I have something that I need to tell you..." Jughead trailed off, hoping his tone of voice wasn't giving anything away.

"I'm on my way." Betty said with a smile in her voice, and Jughead subconsciously grinned at how cute she was.

"I'll see you soon, Betts." Jughead said before hanging up. Betty felt hope replace the guilt-mostly-and she grabbed her bag, brushed her hair back into a smooth ponytail, and walked out of her house with her head held high. The late sun shining down on Betty finally worked it's magic and she regained the skip in her step. Betty was walking towards Pop's when she spotted Jughead. He looked up from his laptop and gazed around, doing a double take when he saw her through the window. Betty walked faster, wanting more than anything to be inside and talking to him. Jughead's eyes widened as he stood up from his seat, worry in his eyes, and panic overtaking his face.

"Oh-oh my god, Betty!" Jughead stammered, waving his arms in his panic and trying to get her to run. Betty was confused, what was he doing? She would have laughed if she didn't recognize the panic in his movements as he ran to the door of the restaurant.

At the last moment, Betty caught sight of a large shadow moving behind her, but it was too late. Betty felt something pierce her side and slide through the front of her body, making her gasp and her body still. Betty looked down at the long knife protruding from her stomach, watching as it slid back out with a squishing noise. Her favourite pink shirt was now ruined by spreading red ink. In a moment, Betty understood that it was not ink.

Sound ceased to exist for a moment. Time slowed down for her as Jughead screamed and ran to catch her. Funny, she thought, she hadn't even noticed she was falling.

"Betty, oh god, Betty," Jughead said over and over, tears gathering in his eyes as he gently led her down to the ground. Betty blinked, dazed, and reached up to wipe his tears off his cheeks. Jughead ripped off his plaid overshirt and balled it up, placing it directly over Betty's wound, trying desperately to stop the steady flow of blood that was leaving her body. Betty winced and gasped when her daze broke and she felt the pain, and Jughead apologized profusely. Jughead dialed the local police station, put it on speakerphone, and dropped his phone to the ground so he could continue applying pressure to his girl's increasingly red stained sweater.

"I'm so sorry, Betts. Oh god, oh my god, I'm so sorry," To Betty, it seemed like Jughead was more in shock than her. The thought made her laugh with the irony of the situation, which caused her to cough. Once she started coughing, she couldn't stop. She felt the blood pool in her mouth and she tried to hold it in, but with one more violent jerk of her body and she couldn't. The spray went all over the cement parking lot and splattered on Jughead. Betty tried to apologize but Jughead shut her down.

"The ambulance was on it's way, they said. Where the fuck is it?" Jughead swore, panic becoming ever consuming as he watched Betty's face grow paler and paler under the bright sun. Jughead tried a new tactic to distract both himself and Betty, who was leaking tears. She wasn't even blinking. It's the kind of tears that come from shock and blinding pain, where you couldn't stop them if you wanted to.

"Hey, Betts, remember how I said I wanted to tell you something once you got here?" Jughead asked in a rather loud voice to get through to her. Betty's glazed over eyes turned to him, and Jughead figured he had nothing to lose. She nodded once. Talking was too much, he understood.

"Do you want to know what that was?" Another nod.

"Betty, I've wanted to tell you this for so long. I wanted to tell you that I like you. A lot. I tried to ignore it and convince myself that I didn't, but it's true. God, I love you Betty. You can't leave me," Jughead said, tears now streaming down his face. Betty went still in his arms.

"What?" Betty said gently, her voice barely over a whisper. She was barely holding on, having already lost so much blood that she felt as if she was floating in the air and heavily grounded all at once. Like being on the tea cup ride at Disneyland with her sister when they were little. She felt sick.

"I need you, Betty. You have to hold on," Jughead looked around desperately, hearing the sirens of the ambulance nearing. Betty, however faint she felt, smiled. So he DID like her, after all. Silly Betty. She finally felt at peace with herself and this torturous day and she began to close her eyes. They were awfully heavy and sore.

"No no no, Betts, you have to stay with me. Stay with me! BETTY!" Jughead yelled, before calling the paramedics over. Betty tried to cling to Jughead's hand while they were loading her onto the stretcher, but she was so weak that her hand fell immediately out of his. Jughead felt shattered as he climbed into the back of the ambulance with her.

After a few days in the hospital, Betty finally woke up, first moving her eyes under her eyelids, and then getting the strangest sensation in her hand. When she opened her eyes a crack, she realized what it was. Jughead was sitting by her bedside holding her hand, gently leaning his head on it. Betty closed her eyes for a minute, made her decision, and wiggled her fingers. The reaction was instantaneous. Jughead jumped from his spot in his chair and hit his knee on the side of Betty's table, most likely leaving a bruise.

"Betts?" Jughead looked at her with such hope and emotion in his eyes, Betty swore she could see the blue colour swirl.

"Juggie?" Betty rasped out after a few tries. Jughead carefully wrapped his arms around her and muffled something in her ear.

"I'm so glad you're okay. Never do that again, Betts. Never," Jughead pulled away, trying not to cry with joy.

"Juggie, what happened?" Betty asked.

"You don't remember?" Jughead asked, deflated like a popped helium balloon but relieved insurmountably at the same time.

"Not a lot. I remember you dancing in the window and then me falling, but I mostly blank out after that," Betty said, wondering why Jughead looked so sad and wanting desperately to make him smile.

"There was a, uh," Jughead looked down in regret at the memory, "There was a masked person. You weren't looking, and they came up behind you; stabbed you. I guess it was a warning we were getting a little too close to the case. They ran away before I even got out the door," Jughead said, bringing his hand up to his forehead, fingers still clutched in hers.

"I'm sorry, Juggie. That must have been awful to watch. What happened before the ambulance got there? I remember feeling happy but that doesn't really make sense, you know, since I was stabbed and all..." Betty said sarcastically, trying to take the bite out of the last part. Her brow creased in confusion and her green eyes bore into his.

"I guess I have something to say to you, then. Again." Jughead laughed nervously, scratching at the back of his neck three times.

"What?" said Betty, gently moving her arm to grab Jughead's hand.

"I, I didn't know if you were going to be okay, and I didn't...um...want to leave it...well, unsaid, and..." Jughead stammered through, causing butterflies to light up in Betty's stitched up stomach. Damn those butterflies, they felt like razorblades. Betty urged Jughead on.

"I LIKE YOU," Jughead finally blurted. Betty's mouth fell open in shock before quickly closing it. "I was going to tell you at Pop's but then all this happened, and-"

"Juggie?" Betty interrupted him, lacing her fingers with his long ones. Jughead looked down at their hands, trying to hide a smile, before looking back into Betty's wondrous green eyes.

"Yeah?" Jughead sat on the edge of Betty's bed, waiting for her to say something in response to his heart on his sleeve. Betty grabbed his shoulder and brought him down to her face level, not minding how much it hurt for the moment, and kissed him. It was so much better than her childish fantasies, his lips meeting hers, Jughead passionately grasping her hand and holding her chin. The sounds around her escaped Betty's ears again for a few moments, although this time had a much better reason. They soon broke apart however, since Betty's wound acted up and needed ice to cool down. Jughead stayed with her throughout the entire hospital trip, minus the days and nights when Betty forcefully sent him to Archie's to shower and get rest. Those were his most hated days.

It was safe to say that Betty Cooper was no longer just the girl next door.


End file.
